


going forward (but i keep looking back)

by arabmorgan



Category: GOT7, JJ Project
Genre: Alternate Universe - Limbo, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-01
Updated: 2017-08-01
Packaged: 2018-12-09 19:40:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11675757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arabmorgan/pseuds/arabmorgan
Summary: Jinyoung and Jaebum go on a journey together, but Jinyoung doesn't really know what for.Flight Log/Verse 2-inspired.





	going forward (but i keep looking back)

When Jinyoung opened his eyes, Jaebum was by his side.

The television was flickering blue by his head, bright and intermittent. It should have been strange, but somehow it just – wasn’t. A half-completed puzzle set was scattered about on the floor, but he couldn’t quite recall what the final product was supposed to look like either.

“You’re finally up,” Jaebum said, looking over at Jinyoung with a cocked brow, the book in his lap momentarily forgotten. He sounded amused, the way he always did when Jinyoung overslept, but there was also an oddly expectant tone to his voice, like he had been waiting all this time just for Jinyoung to awaken.

“What time is it?” Jinyoung blinked, pushing himself upright on the couch. He couldn’t help noticing that the cottage they were in was terribly _quaint_ , just four wooden walls penning them in with their static television and brightly-coloured furniture. For a moment, he wondered how seven people could ever fit into such a cramped space.

Then he looked back over at Jaebum, who was still eyeing him like he expected Jinyoung to do _something_ , except Jinyoung had no idea what that _something_ was.

“It’s time to go,” Jaebum said at last, quietly, when it became clear that Jinyoung wasn’t about to move. He stood, worn paperback still in hand, and walked away, leaving Jinyoung to scramble after him.

“Go where? Where are the others?” he called, catching up with Jaebum just as the other was climbing into the passenger seat of an old pickup truck. Jinyoung stepped back, gaze flicking over the vehicle in confusion. This wasn’t the car he last remembered sitting in.

Jaebum peered out at Jinyoung, elbow resting casually along the open window. “Come on, we have to leave,” he said. It wasn’t a reprimand, nor did Jaebum sound particularly impatient, but Jinyoung walked around the front of the pickup and got into the driver’s seat anyway.

“Why aren’t _you_ driving?” he asked, as a bit of a joke, because Jaebum always liked to be the one at the wheel. It was his responsibility, he claimed, being the oldest and all. On their last road trip, Jaebum had driven for hours straight, just smiling and smiling at the rowdiness going on behind him.

Jaebum looked over at him for a moment, and then, in a voice so quiet Jinyoung almost didn’t hear him over the low rumble of the engine starting, he said, “I don’t like to drive anymore.”

Something cold trickled down Jinyoung’s spine, and he shook himself. He didn’t like that answer, although he couldn’t for the life of him explain why. Instead, he just drove, leaving that odd little cottage behind, until the road ahead was lined with evergreens and nothing more.

It was quiet in the car, an oddity. It was never quiet when the whole gang was around. The roads too were terribly empty, not a single other soul to be seen.

“Where are we going?” Jinyoung tried again. He was still confused, but it didn’t feel pressing, just a sort of mild curiosity hovering on the edges of his mind. It was probably this bubble of _silence_ he and Jaebum were residing in, he thought; it was hard to penetrate silence.

Jaebum’s voice was mild when he responded, a sort of lazy drawl, like it didn’t bother him. “I don’t know. I’ve never been there.”

For some reason, that made Jinyoung uneasy too. He couldn’t stop thinking of their last road trip – all that continuous driving, but it had been fun somehow, and not at all stifling, which was how he was feeling right now. He wished he had that video camera with him. He suddenly wanted to see the things that had been filmed, the stupid things they had said and done, the laughter they had shared.

“Where is everyone else anyway?” he asked again, forcing a laugh, lips stretching into a smile he didn’t feel.

Again, Jaebum turned to look at him, the look in his eyes unreadable. “They’re already there. We’re the last ones left.” Jinyoung hadn’t noticed before, but now he realised that he couldn’t hear the wind rushing by even though they were driving with their windows down. Jaebum’s voice was perfectly clear in his ears.

“Maybe,” he said slowly, “we should stop. We need a break.”

“Maybe,” Jaebum agreed, even though they couldn’t have driven for more than half an hour. Jinyoung pulled over anyway, and they both got out.

The trees along the side of the road swayed gently in the breeze, their leaves vibrantly green, almost to the point of saturation. The birds were silent, or perhaps just gone all together, and finally Jinyoung gave up on looking around and turned back to Jaebum, only to find him lying across the middle of the road, head pillowed on the palm of his hand.

“What are you doing?” Jinyoung asked curiously. He couldn’t recall Jaebum ever doing something like this, but it was turning out to be an odd day.

“Resting,” Jaebum replied, without opening his eyes, so Jinyoung lay down beside him and rested as well.

Jinyoung wasn’t sure how long they lay there, but the tarmac was pleasantly cool, the sun warm on his face. He thought that perhaps they stayed there for a long time, side by side, not thinking or speaking, just existing on this little piece of land that was theirs. Their bubble of silence.

“We should go,” Jaebum murmured at last, but he sounded just as reluctant as Jinyoung felt to leave. It was hard to trace the passing of time when it felt like the world was theirs and theirs alone.

“I like it here,” Jinyoung said, even as he pushed himself to his feet, muscles still limber and none the worse for wear despite having lain in the same position for so long.

This time, Jaebum smiled at him, an intimate smile, born of long years of friendship. “We have other places to be, Jinyoung. The others are waiting.”

No other incentive was needed. Jinyoung exhaled, not a sigh but a breath of anticipation.

Their surroundings didn’t seem to change much no matter how far they drove. They left the trees behind and passed lush, verdant fields, and then the fields were replaced by the still forests once again. The road stretched out before Jinyoung’s eyes, twisting and turning, rising and falling, exactly the same and yet not.

It was almost disorienting to see the gaping shadow of a tunnel up ahead, a jarring break to the constant scenery, but it felt _right_ as well. To go somewhere, to _reach_ somewhere, something had to change, something had to give.

Jaebum reached a hand out when they were halfway through, the sunlight at the end of the tunnel winking cheerily at them both, beckoning them forward. Jaebum’s hand came to rest on Jinyoung’s thigh, a light touch, hesitant – the first sign of uncertainty he had shown all day.

Jinyoung eased the pickup to a stop in the middle of the tunnel. No one else be would coming along this road, not as long as they were there. He knew that somehow, in the quiet, confident way dreams always seem to make perfect sense, no matter how other-worldly they may seem.

Jaebum was already looking at him when he turned, and there was something contemplative in his gaze, a solemnness to the set of his mouth that made Jinyoung inexplicably sad. He looked away, forward, to the end of the journey, another thing he could feel deep in his bones.

“There’s no rush,” Jaebum said quietly. “It’s okay to keep us waiting, you know.” He stopped with his mouth slightly open, and then shut it as if his words had suddenly deserted him. His hand lifted from Jinyoung’s thigh, stayed in mid-air for a second, and then returned to his own lap.

There wasn’t anything to say to that. Jinyoung’s foot pressed down on the accelerator, and they met the pink hues of the evening sky once more, familiar trees returning to welcome them to the end of the road.

Through unspoken agreement, they both got out and approached the junction on foot. These paths were not meant to be traversed by vehicle.

Jinyoung slowed to take in the signs, bright red and white arrows, pointing outwards but never quite managing to leave each other.

“Which way are we going?” he asked, suddenly afraid. Neither of these were roads that he wanted to walk alone.

Jaebum looked around, eyes similarly narrowed against the glare of the setting sun. “Left,” he said quietly, and Jinyoung wanted to ask him where he found such certainty, how he could _know_ which path was his.

But Jinyoung knew too; he just didn’t like what he knew.

“I could go left too,” he said, but it felt like the words died as soon as they touched the empty air, shrivelled by their own untruths. “The others took the left road too.”

Jaebum reached out, sliding his hand into Jinyoung’s. “We’ll wait for you.” He squeezed, a promise and a goodbye all at once.

They walked away from each other at the same time, Jaebum with his head tilted up, eager, Jinyoung with his eyes fixed on the rough ground, feet dragging and unwilling. He turned at the last moment, eyes fixing on Jaebum’s retreating back, thinking that perhaps it wasn’t too late. Perhaps he didn’t want to take _this_ road after all.

But as he watched, Jaebum turned back too. When he saw Jinyoung watching, waiting, he raised a hand, middle and index fingers pointed down, thumb out.

_Seven._

Jinyoung smiled, just a small tilt of his lips, and turned back to the right road.

* * *

_Patient revived from clinical death: 3:14 A.M._

**Author's Note:**

> Idk, I just kept thinking of those theories where Jaebum was the last to die in the crash in Flight Log, and then there was that whole path thing at the end of the Tomorrow, Today MV and Jinyoung looking back and I was just in a sad mood. I hope this whole thing made sense?


End file.
